


Late-Night Light Bulbs

by Lacanthrope



Category: Welcome to Night Vale
Genre: Emotional Hurt/Comfort, F/F, First Meetings, Grief/Mourning, Late at Night, Old Age, Pre-Canon
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2014-07-24
Updated: 2014-07-24
Packaged: 2018-02-10 05:34:16
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 1,443
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/2012904
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/Lacanthrope/pseuds/Lacanthrope
Summary: <blockquote class="userstuff">
              <p>As Josie stared up at the bare, burnt-out bulb overhead, it dawned on her that she had never had to switch out a light bulb in the house before. Susie had been the one to deal with the tall tasks.</p>
            </blockquote>





	Late-Night Light Bulbs

**Author's Note:**

> *places first WTNV story in the BloodStone Circle and escapes back to the Dog Park*

   As Josie trudged up the porch steps from her final visit to the hospital, she realized that it was dark. Of course the sun had set at some point when Cecil had been driving her home so that in and of itself would make it dark in all the places without light. But in all the years she had lived in this house, the porch had never been dark. Susie had liked to keep the light on so she could make her way up from the car lot without getting turned around and ending up on the side of some non-existent mountain.

   Looking at the shadowed porch now, she was struck by an uncomfortable sense of jamais vu. She couldn’t make out any of the familiar things: the stain beside the door from Valentine’s Day seven years ago or the vibrant hues of her Nightshade planter or _“Jo & Suz”_ carved into the bottom of the doorstep.

   It just looked like a cold, dark, empty porch.

   Maybe it was a sign, a preparation even, for what the rest of the house would be like now. But even though she had faith in signs, they were not known to be particularly benevolent.

   She glanced up at the empty, bare bulb hanging over her head.

   She’d never had to change a single light bulb in this house before. Susie, with her long legs and strong arms, dealt with the tall tasks. Susie could reach up and pluck a burnt out bulb without a step ladder or a stool.

   Josie sighed and made her way inside.

   She toed off her shoes and slid her feet into her slippers. Her back hurt from sitting in the uncomfortable hospital chairs all day and the entire car ride home she had relished the thought of stretching out on her bed, even if it was to a chorus of each of her vertebrae popping into a new position. But she wouldn’t be able to get to sleep now knowing the porch light was out, even if the reason it was kept on didn’t really matter anymore. Old habits were one of the harder things to kill after all.

   She shuffled over to the under-stairs cupboard and opened the door. It was almost impossibly dark but she could just make out the small box next to her old grimoire and Susie’s old tools. She shook out the bulb and slid it into her skirt pocket. She squinted at the things further back in the cupboard. Sandwiched between the back wall and some leftover Street-Cleaning Day ammunition was the step ladder. She wrapped her hand around the wooden handle and carefully tugged it out of its resting place.

   She dragged the step ladder back out to the porch and stopped underneath the burnt out bulb. After a few strenuous moments, the rusty hinges of the step ladder gave way with a drawn out groan. A few spiders skittered out from their hiding spots and dropped between the slats of the porch.

   Josie stared up at the empty bulb swaying above her head. It wasn’t that it was that high up, in fact it was just where a porch light was supposed to be. Just high enough to cast light on everything that needed to be seen. The fact was that Josie was too small. She'd never been 'tall' and probably was never going to be considering how much she'd shrunk over the past few years. Susie had been tall. Or maybe she hadn’t been particularly tall at all, but just taller than Josie. Specificity had never really mattered much to her.

   She placed her foot on the first rung and the ladder tilted against the uneven porch slats.

   It probably wouldn’t be too late to call Cecil. He wouldn’t be that far along the road anyways. It had been strange to watch the landscape go by so slowly outside the window. Susie had liked to rip along the old dirt roads and swing the car around each corner in a hail of screeching tires and clouds of dust. Josie liked the way the wind from the open windows whipped Susie’s long, dark hair out of her braid and around her shoulders. She especially loved the way Susie’s eyes went wild and wide when she pulled the car through a hairpin turn at forty miles an hour.

    Josie swallowed down the uncomfortable tightness building in her chest. Cecil had been kind enough to drive her back home at such a late hour, even though he had work in the morning. There was no reason to bother him any further. And besides, it was only changing a light bulb, not getting a book out at the library.

   She moved up another step and the ladder tilted the other way. She held out both her arms to steady herself. She could almost hear Susie coming up the steps from the car lot, hands still covered in engine grease, head thrown back in a loud laugh as she watched Josie tilt around. Susie would scoop her up in her strong arms and hold her steady so she could change the bulb. And from that high up, Josie would look out at everything beyond the porch. She would see the whole world. She would feel it. Wrapped up in that warm circle of skin, bone, and muscle, Josie could do anything. Be anything.

   She brought both of her feet onto the top step and pulled the bulb from her pocket. The glass was just as cool as the desert night air and a shiver worked its way up her spine. She looked out across the great, open expanse beyond the porch and didn’t feel like anything but a foolish old woman on the top step of a poorly balanced ladder. There was no greatness welling up inside her chest, just the same yawning emptiness that she’d been holding back after every hospital visit.

   Glass shattered against the porch floor. Josie looked down at her empty hands then at the pieces of light bulb scattered beneath her.

   She sighed and shuffled down off the ladder. What was she thinking? She should have called Cecil. Now she’d have to spend all night sweeping up the glass in the dark.

   She slumped into the rocking chair Susie had dragged out onto the porch and pulled her blanket tightly around her small shoulders. Maybe tomorrow she would sweep it up. Maybe tomorrow she would go into town and get a new box of light bulbs. Maybe she’d even take Susie’s things down to the Goodwill. Josie tucked her chin into her chest and sighed. For now all she wanted to do was wrap her blanket tighter around herself and pretend the house at her back wasn’t so quiet and empty.

   Then there was the soft sound of settling feathers.

   Josie lifted her head. A light bulb floated in front of her face. She gasped and thought of the floating lights above the Arby’s she liked to watch from their bedroom window. She blinked a few times and realized the light bulb wasn’t floating at all. It was resting in a large, dark palm. A palm that flowed into a long, dark arm and continued into a large, dark figure in front of her. It was not a hooded figure because it was wearing no clothes. Resting behind what could be its head was something that reminded her of the woven basket Susie’s mother had given them when they moved into the house. At its back were four neatly folded wings. A light breeze spread the scent of lightning through the night air.

   Although what could have been its head was a space devoid of all light and existence, it seemed to stare down at her imploringly. She looked over to where she had dropped the light bulb. There was no more glass on the floor.

   The rustling of feathers brought her attention back to the light bulb in front of her. The being brought it closer to her. Josie loosened her blanket and reached towards the light bulb.

   As the tips of her fingers brushed against the warm glass, a soft pulse of light washed over her hand. She glanced up at the being. Although its head did not move, the outside edges of it shimmered in encouragement. She wrapped her hand around the bulb and the light flickered brighter.

   She could now see that there wasn’t just one being on the porch. There were many all standing in a half-circle around her. One of them reached up to the burnt-out bulb and began twisting it out of the socket.

   Josie smiled.

**Author's Note:**

> I don't think it was ever mentioned if Josie had a partner or not so my head canon is Josie and Susie: Opera Operator and Mighty Mechanic power couple.  
> Lemme know if there are any glaring errors/inconsistencies!


End file.
